Quebec religion wants Canadian government to approve the use of magic mushrooms in its ceremonies

Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. Revelation 9:21

According to Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, the Greek word for sorcery in Rev. 9:21 is pharmakia (or pharmakeia), from which we get the English word pharmacy...

...primarily signified the use of medicine, drugs, spells; then, poisoning; then, sorcery...mentioned as one of the "works of the flesh..."

...In sorcery, the use of drugs, whether simple or potent, was generally accompanied by incantations and appeals to occult powers, with the provision of various charms, amulets, etc., professedly designed to keep the applicant or patient from the attention and power of demons, but actually to impress the applicant with the mysterious resources and powers of the sorcerer.

We live in an increasingly drugged society--yet another end-time prophecy that's being fulfilled before our eyes. As reported by Darryl Greer of Canadian Press, October 21, 2024:

A Quebec-based religion is taking the minister of mental health and addictions to court, claiming Health Canada is dragging its feet on a decision whether to allow its members to use magic mushrooms in their ceremonies.

Gratitude Sanctuary, known as Sanctuaire de la Gratitude in French, and its “Reverend Superior” Alain Menier, filed an application in Federal Court claiming its members need to consume magic mushrooms to practice their religion.

The application was filed by the religious non-profit in early October in Ottawa, and says the group believes people receive “their own teachings when entering the sacred space opened by the consumption of psilocybin mushrooms.”

The application says ceremonies must be done safely and legally, but Health Canada hasn’t decided on the group’s request for an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, which was first submitted in March 2022.

“An important tenant of the religion is that the mushrooms should be consumed in the safest way possible, which requires that they be consumed under strict health and safety protocols, in a controlled environment, and under trained supervision,” it says.

In response to the request, the application says Health Canada sent two questionnaires to Menier with 41 questions in total, but months went by without a response.

The religious non-profit’s lawyer sent a “demand letter” in September to Health Canada seeking a response to the exemption request within 30 days, and “Health Canada confirmed receipt but did not provide any of the responses requested nor demonstrate that it was taking steps to further the processing of the exemption request.”

It wants to compel the agency to decide on the exemption, saying it “cannot conduct their religious ceremonies without” it.

Menier and Gratitude Sanctuary claim in court that their “religious freedom rights are being infringed by the lack of an exemption,” and they want a judge to compel the minister of mental health and addictions to either decide to grant or refuse the request.

“No harm will result from the minister continuing to process the exemption request,” the court application says.

“Rather, it will result in either the minister granting the request and allowing the applicants to practice their religion or the minister notifying the applicants about what more information that is needed or of the minister’s intent to refuse the request.”

Health Canada said it was looking into a question about religious exemptions from the act.

Health Canada’s website outlines how exemption requests are decided on a “case by case basis,” and processing times vary depending on the purpose of the exemption.

The agency’s website says it strives to “assess requests in a timely fashion,” aiming for 45 days for clinical studies, 70 days for scientific research, but for “non-routine exemptions, there is no set time period for receiving decisions.”

“The review time varies depending on the complexity and completeness of the request,” Health Canada’s website says.

A lawyer for Gratitude Sanctuary did not immediately respond to an email and voice mail seeking comment.

Christians should avoid Mormon-sponsored nativities

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. II Corinthians 6:14-18

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Ephesians 5:11

The God of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--commonly known as the Mormon Church--is an extraterrestrial from a planet near a star called Kolob, and was once a man; the Jesus of Mormonism was the spirit brother of Lucifer (for more information on Mormon doctrine, consult some of the blogs and sites on the sidebar of this blog). Which is to say, Latter-day Saints worship a different God and Jesus from those of Christianity. For this reason, Christians should obey the command of God's word in II Corinthians and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of Mormonism.

As reported by Carol Christensen in the Topeka Capital-Journal, November 26, 2021 (links in original):

St. Francis of Assisi is credited with popularizing nativities when he set up in 1223 in Greccio, Italy, what we would now call a “living nativity” (a cave with live animals, people representing Mary and Joseph, and a representation of baby Jesus) in order to help laypeople better understand and emotionally connect with the story of Christ’s birth.

The practice of making visual depictions of Jesus’s birth has spread since then throughout the Christian world, and today many Christians have nativities in their homes to help them remember the “reason for the season” and feel an emotional — and spiritual — connection with Jesus and His birth.

It was for similar reasons that Nativities and Noels was started in Topeka in 2012, nearly 800 years after St. Francis set up his cave nativity. Now in its 10th year, this free event features more than 800 nativities from around the world and continuous live vocal and instrumental Christmas music.

It will be Friday, Dec. 3, through Sunday, Dec. 5, at the Topeka Stake Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2401 S.W. Kingsrow Road. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 1 to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

The event has reminded attendees of the true reason for and spirit of Christmas and helped them feel a stronger connection with Jesus and His birth at an often-hectic time of year. The nativities from nearly 100 countries have also helped remind visitors that people throughout the world celebrate Christ’s birth and feel connected to Him.

First-time visitors may be amazed at the variety of nativities on display: such as traditional, ornaments, miniature, homemade, electric, musical, children's, international, even ones from Kansas! They range in size from under an inch to several feet tall and are made from a wide variety of materials — porcelain, wood, clay, metal, and cloth, but also paper, marbles, corn husks, coconut shells, gourds and recycled newspapers, magazines, fence slats, pop cans, steel drums, and auto parts.

The display changes every year. This year, 200 nativities that haven’t been shown before will be on display.

Nativities and Noels, which initially featured only music and nativities from local Latter-day Saints, has expanded and includes music from members of other local Christian churches, including First Christian Church of Holton, Topeka Bible Church and Topeka Church of the Brethren. Washburn Rural High School's This Generation will sing at 1 p.m. Friday.

Nativities are on loan this year from friends from 12 other Topeka-area churches: Christ the King Catholic Church, Community of Christ, First Lutheran Church, First United Methodist Church (Garnett), First United Methodist Church (Topeka), Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church, New Hope and Love Community Church, St. Mark’s African Methodist Episcopal Church, Topeka Bible Church, Topeka Church of the Brethren, University United Methodist Church, and Wanamaker Woods Church of the Nazarene.

There’s a wonderful feeling of Christian unity and connection when people of many different churches help with this celebration of Jesus’s birth.

Multiple COVID safety precautions will be taken at the event, and masks are recommended.

For more information, please check out “Nativities and Noels” on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nativitiesandnoels. The Facebook page also has posts from last year’s virtual event. Last year’s inspiring, locally produced videos on the “Nativities and Noels” YouTube channel are also still up and worth watching. Highlights from this year’s Nativities and Noels will be posted on the Facebook and YouTube pages after the event.

We are excited to hold Nativities and Noels in person again.

Here are some of my favorite comments from visitors from the public during earlier Nativities and Noels:

• “We had a nativity like that one when I was growing up!”

• “I have some nativities. May I share one or more next year?” (Answer: “Yes!”)

• “There’s such a wonderful spirit here!”

• “I’m going to tell my family (or friends or Sunday School class, etc.) about this!”

• “This is the highlight of my Christmas season.”

I hope that you will come to Nativities and Noels this year. It — and the spiritual and emotional connections you can make there — just might be the highlight of your Christmas season too!

Carol Christensen is co-chair of Nativities and Noels and the volunteer Communication Director for the Topeka Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

140 years ago: U.S. President James A. Garfield dies after being shot by a pseudo-Christian utopian socialist

On September 19, 1881, James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States of America, died at the age of 49. He had been shot in the back on July 2 at a train station in Washington. His wound was probably survivable, and it's been speculated that his death resulted not so much from the wound as from infection caused by poking and prodding by his doctors with unwashed hands using unsterilized instruments in an effort to find the bullet.

Mr. Garfield had taken office on March 4 and had made civil service reform a priority of his presidency. The assassin, Charles Guiteau, was an unsuccessful lawyer from Chicago who has been largely passed over in the history books as simply a deranged office-seeker. However, the history books have overlooked, as Paul Harvey would say, "The rest of the story."

Charles Guiteau, the fourth of six children, was born on September 8, 1841 in Freeport, Illinois and moved with his family to Ulao, Wisconsin in 1850, moving back to Freeport with his father after his mother died in 1855. He failed the entrance examinations for the University of Michigan, and abandoned remedial studies.

Mr. Guiteau's father Luther was closely affiliated with the Oneida Community in Oneida, New York. The United States of the mid-19th century contained a number of utopian sects, and the Oneida Community, founded by John Humphrey Noyes in 1848, was one of them. Mr. Noyes was influenced by the preaching of Charles G. Finney, the "Father of American revivalism," and underwent a religious conversion at the age of 20 in 1831; he claimed to be a Christian, but eventually embraced the unbiblical doctrine that believers can attain sinless perfection in this life. He studied at Dartmouth College, Andover Theological Seminary, and Yale Theological College, and while at Yale, came to the conclusion that the second coming of Christ had occurred in A.D. 70 and that "mankind was now living in a new age."

Mr. Noyes was a Perfectionist--he believed that it was possible for man to be free from sin in this lifetime--and on February 20, 1834, he declared himself perfect and free from sin. Mr. Noyes' declaration provoked outrage from Yale Theological College, and he was expelled and stripped of his recently-earned license to preach. Mr. Noyes returned home to Putney, Vermont, where he continued to preach his Perfectionist doctrines. In 1847 he was arrested for adultery, and he and some followers fled to Oneida, where he established a community in 1848, raising canned fruits and vegetables, and achieving success in various industries, including the silverware trade. The Oneida Community, which practiced communalism, complex marriage, male sexual continence, and mutual criticism, grew to over 300 members by 1878, and had branches in other locales.

Charles Guiteau joined the Oneida Community in June 1860 at the age of 18, and expressed perfect confidence in Mr. Noyes and his teachings. Despite the community's practice of group marriage, Mr. Guiteau was generally rejected by women during his five years there. He left twice, returning once and then leaving for good, filing several lawsuits against Mr. Noyes, demanding payment for work he had done on behalf of the community. Mr. Guiteau studied law, but failed in a brief career as a lawyer and at several other jobs. He met and married librarian Annie Bunn in 1869, but was abusive to her. Mr. Guiteau eventually reinvented himself as a theologian, although his writing on the subject was largely plagiarized from Mr. Noyes. He was increasingly convinced that his actions--which included defrauding clients--were divinely inspired, but by 1875 Luther Guiteau was convinced that his son was possessed by Satan.

Charles Guiteau turned his interest to politics, originally supporting former President U.S. Grant for the 1880 U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination, and then supporting Mr. Garfield after the latter won the nomination. Mr. Guiteau believed his support had been crucial to Mr. Garfield's electoral victory, and made repeated personal requests--always rebuffed--for a consulship in Paris. By July 2, 1881, Mr. Guiteau was convinced that God wanted Mr. Garfield "removed."

In contrast to today, justice was swift in 1881. On October 14, Mr. Guiteau was charged with murder. His trial began on November 17; a plea of temporary insanity was unsuccessful, and he was convicted on January 25, 1882 and sentenced to death. On June 1, he composed a lengthy poem claiming that God had commanded him to kill President Garfield in order to prevent Secretary James G. Blaine’s "scheming" to war with Chile and Peru. Mr. Guiteau also accused Chester Arthur, who had succeeded Mr. Garfield as President, of the "basest ingratitude" for not pardoning him when he knew that the death of Mr. Garfield had saved the United States.

Mr. Guiteau was hanged in Washington, D.C. on June 30, 1882 at the age of 40. While on the scaffold, he recited a poem he had composed titled I am Going to the Lordy.

Mainland China's first Mormon temple to open

As reported by Keith Zhai and Tony Munroe of Reuters, April 6, 2020:

The Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church, plans to open its first temple in mainland China at a time when Beijing has been clamping down steadily on religious freedoms.

The temple in the eastern Chinese city of Shanghai will help fill a gap left by renovation work since last July at the church’s temple in Hong Kong, Russell M. Nelson, president of the church, announced on Sunday.

He also said seven other temples would open, including one in Dubai, its first in the Middle East.

“In Shanghai, a modest, multipurpose meeting place will provide a way for Chinese members to continue to participate in ordinances of the temple,” Nelson said.

“Because we respect the laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China, the Church does not send proselytizing missionaries there; nor will we do so now,” he said.

A former cardiac surgeon, Nelson has spent time in China, studied Mandarin and was granted an honorary professorship by China’s Shandong University School of Medicine.

In January, the church sent two planeloads of protective medical equipment to the Children’s Medical Center in Shanghai to help manage the coronavirus outbreak.

No official figure is available for the number of Mormons in China.

China’s constitution guarantees religious freedom but under President Xi, Jinping Beijing has tightened restrictions on religions seen as a challenge to the authority of the ruling Communist Party.

The government has cracked down on underground churches, both Protestant and Catholic, and has rolled out legislation to increase oversight of religious education and practices.

Chinese law requires that places of worship register and submit to government oversight, but some have declined to register and are known as “house” or “underground” churches.

The Chinese government formally recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism.

“Expatriate and Chinese congregations will continue to meet separately. The Church’s legal status there remains unchanged,” Nelson said.

“In an initial phase of facility use, entry will be by appointment only. The Shanghai Temple will not be a temple for tourists from other countries,” he said.

In 2018, the Vatican and China signed an agreement on the appointment of Roman Catholic bishops, a breakthrough on an issue that for decades fuelled tensions between the Holy See and Beijing and thwarted efforts toward diplomatic relations.

Utah Senate votes unanimously to decriminalize polygamy

It comes as no surprise to this blogger to read of this development; I've been predicting such a thing for years. When objective standards are jettisoned--in the case of marriage, one man and one woman--then everything becomes a matter of preference. There is then no logical basis on which to say that one preference is superior or more moral than another.

While there are examples in the Old Testament of Israelite leaders having more than one wife, these are examples of God's mercy in not striking them down; nowhere is polygamy or polyandry approved of in the Bible. The New Testament standard was laid down by the Lord Jesus Christ in Mark 10:7:

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;

Secular British scientist Jacob Bronowski, in The Ascent of Man, made a secular case against polygamy, arguing that the practice was outlawed in various societies in order to prevent older men from taking advantage of younger women. Indeed, the typical polygamous arrangement found among fundamentalist Mormons doesn't seem to be a 25-year-old man with a few women in their early 20s as wives, but rather a dirty middle-aged man in his 50s with a harem of teenagers. And, of course, if one man has a large number of wives, there must therefore be a large number of men without a wife. Although there are more women than men, the discrepancy isn't large enough to be evened out by polygamy. Historically, when large numbers of men have been unable to find enough women, they've invaded other lands in order to get them. Which is to say, this never ends well.

As reported by Nate Carlisle of the Salt Lake Tribune, February 28, 2020 (updated February 29, 2020) (links in original):

Utah polygamists can party like it’s 1889.

The Utah Senate on Friday gave final approval 27-0 to a bill that would reduce polygamy among consenting adults to an infraction — an offense below some traffic tickets — essentially decriminalizing the practice.

Gov. Gary Herbert has indicated he will sign the measure. If he does not, there appear to be enough votes in the Legislature to override a veto.

The bill, SB102, represents a historical shift in how Utah has regarded polygamy, which has been a felony (even for willing participants) for most of the state’s history. The current law makes polygamy punishable by up to five years in prison. It can be up to 15 years if the polygamists are found to have committed fraud, domestic violence, sexual abuse or human smuggling.

The new measure would do nothing to change the stiffer category. And while polygamy among consenting adults still would officially be a crime in Utah, the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Deidre Henderson, R-Spanish Fork, has said her intent was to lessen the penalties to dissuade law enforcement from pursuing charges against people who are breaking no other laws.

Sarah M.S. Pearsall, professor of American history at Cambridge University, said SB102 represents a big change for wives, husbands and children in polygamous households in Utah, especially since the practice has been viewed as “barbaric and unacceptable” since the earliest American colonies.

“It [also] is a significant change in the history of American marriage,” Pearsall wrote in an email to The Salt Lake Tribune, “since it enshrines the principle that consenting adults should not be treated as criminals for choosing to live in plural marriages.”

Henderson framed the legislative discussion in terms of keeping women and children safe from people who commit crimes within polygamy.

“In these isolated, insular communities, that’s where a lot of the problems can really escalate,” Henderson told reporters earlier this month. “And that’s where the bad people can really — and have — weaponized the law in order to keep their victims silent and isolated in their control.”

Ryan Fisher of Sound Choices Coalition, which tries to educate the public on what it sees as the harm of polygamy, issued a statement in anticipation of SB102’s passage. Fisher said the Legislature has not listened to victims from polygamous abusers.

“Senator Henderson and those that pushed this bill,” the statement said, “are recklessly trying to change history before they understand the consequences of the decriminalization and subsequent spreading of polygamy and the harms to men, women and children that are inherent in this social system.”

Polygamy was a common practice among followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who settled Utah in the mid-19th century. It expanded greatly under the faith’s second prophet-president, Brigham Young, perhaps the Western world’s most famous polygamist.

The church officially began to abandon plural marriage in 1890 as a condition of statehood. The Utah Constitution still says “polygamous or plural marriages are forever prohibited.”

The LDS Church excommunicates members found practicing polygamy. Most of Utah’s modern polygamists still trace their beliefs to the teachings of Mormon founder Joseph Smith.

Brielle Decker, the 65th wife of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs, is ambivalent about the bill. She acknowledges plural families are afraid to report crimes to police and doesn’t expect that to change.

“They’re not going to just uphold the law all the sudden,” Decker said. “Polygamists always think they’re above the law.”

Jeffs is serving a sentence of life plus 20 years in a Texas prison for crimes related to sexually assaulting two girls he married as plural wives. He is one of the bad polygamists both sides used in arguments for and against SB102.

Some of Jeffs’ former followers, including Hildale Mayor Donia Jessop, said people who did not participate in his sex crimes were afraid to leave the FLDS and seek social services for fear it would expose their family to prosecution and having children removed from homes. Other former FLDS followers, including a Jeffs nephew, Ian Jeffs, said any lessening of the penalties would only embolden abusive polygamous leaders.

The bill passed the Senate the first time with zero no votes and won in the House, 70-3. The House made one amendment — clarifying that sexual battery within polygamy is punishable by 15 years in prison, too — that required another approval from the Senate on Friday.

Herbert made mention of the bill’s broad support on Capitol Hill during his monthly news conference Thursday.

“With marriage laws being what they are today,” the governor said, “and the liberalization of and more broadening of it, eliminating [polygamy] from being a felony to a lesser offense is probably warranted.”

100 years ago--The birth of false messiah Sun Myung Moon

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, Matthew 24:24a (also Mark 13:22a)

Rev. Sun Myung Moon was born in what is now North Korea on either January 6 or February 25, 1920, and was raised in a Confucianist family who converted to Christianity when he was a child. He was imprisoned in a North Korean labour camp in the late 1940s, but escaped to South Korea in 1950, his internment having hardened him in to a staunch anti-Communist.

In 1954, Rev. Moon formally founded the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity--popularly known as the Unification Church--in Seoul. He proclaimed that Jesus Christ was divine but no God, and had redeemed man spiritually, but because he hadn't married, had not therefore redeemed man physically. Rev. Moon taught that he and his second wife Hak Ja Han (he had previously been married and divorced) were humanity's "True Parents" who had come to link married families to God; the Unification Church became internationally known for its blessing ceremonies--often referred to as "mass weddings" for married couples.

Rev. Moon moved to the United States in 1971, retaining his South Korean citizenship, and founded numerous front organizations and sponsored conferences featuring high-profile speakers, some of whom claimed unawareness of the true identity of the sponsor. The Unification Church's members, derisively referred to as "Moonies," practiced the doctrine of "heavenly deception," meaning that it was permissible to lie in order to serve the interests of Rev. Moon and the Unification Church.

In 1982, Rev. Moon was convicted of conspiracy and filing false income tax returns in the United States, and served 13 months of an 18-month prison sentence. I remember reading reports at the time of his receiving support during his imprisonment from American evangelical leaders such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, but I don't remember reading that he received support from organizations such as the National Council of Churches, American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. (the denomination that brought you such "Christians" as Tony Campolo and Ron Sider), National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, and Southern Christian Leadership Conference. These groups have never been known for supporting the rights of Bible-believing Christians, which leads this blogger to regard their support for Rev. Moon as very suspicious. Rev. Moon also founded the Washington Times newspaper in 1982, using it to spread his views.

On March 23, 2004, Rev. Moon was honoured by a dozen members of the United States Congress in a ceremony at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, in which he delivered a speech reiterating his claim to be the Messiah. When news about the event was revealed three months later, some of the lawmakers present claimed to have been misled about the true nature of the ceremony when they accepted the invitation.

Rev. Moon appeared to be correct in predicting the eventual fall of Communism, but was very wrong in claiming to be the Messiah and the Second Coming of Christ. The true second coming of Christ will occur when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to Earth (see Matthew 24:30-31; Mark 13:26-27; Luke 21:27; Revelation 19:11-21). Rev. Moon died in South Korea on September 3, 2012 at the age of 92; he has been quiet since then, and is most likely still in his grave.

See also my posts:

Evangelicals and Moonies Together? (March 11, 2011)

30 years ago: 2,000 couples participate in Moonie mass wedding in New York (July 3, 2012)

40 years ago: California Court of Appeals rules in favour of Moonies against parents (April 11, 2017)

30 years ago: The death of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. Mark 13:22 (also Matthew 24:24)

On January 19, 1990, Indian "holy man" Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh died of heart failure at the age of 58. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, born Chandhra Mohan Jain, was a Hindu guru who became a philosophy professor and a popular lecturer in the 1950s and '60s. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh became known as the "sex guru" because of his liberal teachings on sex. He began initiating disciples in 1970, and created an ashram. The ashram began attracting Western followers, especially after 1975, when therapists promoting human potential, aka New Age teachings arrived. Violence and abundant sexual activity between members attracted critical attention from Indian authorities, and Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and he relocated to Oregon in 1981, where American followers Sheela Silverman and her husband John Shelfer had purchased property.

The Rajneesh organization created the city of Rajneeshpuram, accumulating 93 Rolls Royces and encountering stiff opposition from local residents. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh had taken a vow of silence in April 1981, but ended the public silence in October 1984, and almost a year later publicly denounced Ms. Silverman and her associates, accusing them of serious crimes, including a 1984 salmonella attack on local residents. Rajneeshpuram collapsed, and Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was indicted in October 1985 for conspiracy to evade U.S. immigration laws; he ended up making a deal including a fine and an agreement not to return to the United States for five years. After various stops around the world, he landed in Mumbai in July 1986, returning to his ashram in Pune six months later. He suffered from declining health, which he blamed on poisoning in U.S. jails, and in 1989 took the name Osho Rajneesh.

It's interesting to note that a disproportionate number of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's followers had backgrounds in psychology. I was a student at Grant MacEwan Community College in Edmonton in the early 1980s, and the college had a psychology instructor under the surname of Narayan, who was a Rajneesh devotee. Mr. Narayan was a Jew whose original name I've forgotten, but he changed his name after falling under the spell of the Bhagwan.

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's organization continues to proclaim his false teachings, using the name OSHO. As for the current whereabouts of Rajneeshpuram's 93 Rolls Royces--we're not sure. False Christs such as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh come and go, but the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and will return to Earth (Acts 1:11).

U.S. Virgin Islands Rastafarians have "fruitful and progressive" meeting with government officials

Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries... Revelation 9:21a

As reported by the St. Thomas Source, October 17, 2019:

The members of the V.I. Rastafari Sacramental Cannabis Council Inc. (VIRSCC) thanks Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., Lt. Gov. Tregenza Roach and their staff for meeting with it on Oct. 7 at the PFA building on St. Thomas.

On Oct. 7, 1928, H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie I was crowned Negus/King Tafari and later ascended to the Regal Throne of the Solomonic Dynasty as the 225th ascendant to the Throne of King David, King Solomon and Queen Makeda of Ethiopia; therefore, this was the 91st anniversary of Negus/King Tafari. This meeting was not only a historical one but also a very progressive and fruitful one.

Participants discussed issues pertaining to Rastafari human rights; the Rastafari Council made these proposals:

1) That the Rastafari community be given an apology for the injustices and persecution we have faced throughout the many decades here in the V.I.

2) That a law be passed to protect Rastafari indigenous cultural/traditional practices, pursuant to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.

3) That Rastafari (VIRSCC) be granted two medical dispensary licenses, one on St. Croix and the other dispensary on St. Thomas.

4) Virgin Islanders who are incarcerated for marijuana/cannabis charges on the local level will be pardoned and the cases expunged.

5) The VIRSCC requested that Ras Bobby (Claude Olivacee), who is one the advisors to the VIRSCC Inc. and who also is a well-known herbalist here in the V.I. and throughout the Caribbean, be selected to represent the VIRSCC on the Cannabis Advisory Board.

The V.I. Rastafari Sacramental Cannabis Council Inc. will continue to work closely with Bryan, Roach and the senators of the 33rd Legislature of the V.I. as it moves forward in the Cannabis Economic Revolution here in the V.I., where it matters most, because “A We Deh Ya”!!!

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – words of H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie I

This blogger doesn't regard the refusal to recognize the legitimacy of "sacramental cannabis" as "injustice."

Police in Nigeria rescue people chained in charismaniac church in Lagos

As reported by Chijioke Jannah of the Lagos Daily Post, November 1, 2019:

The Lagos State Police Command has rescued at least 15 persons between ages 19 and 50 from chains at an illegal healing church in Isheri-Osun, Egbe Idimu LCDA of Lagos.

It was gathered that the church, situated at 26, Alafia Street, Oriofe Ijegun Isheri, is known as Blessings of Goodness Healing Church.

According to witnesses, some of the victims have been chained for over four years and could barely walk when they were rescued.

Some of the victims, it was learnt, suffered certain health challenges and were thereafter dumped at the facility by their families for spiritual healing.

However, the police acting on tip-off stormed the place around 6:10pm on Thursday night and arrested one Prophet Joseph Ojo, 58, the operator of the healing home, alongside 10 other suspects.

Speaking to newsmen on Friday, police spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), said the prophet admitted to have been in the healing ministry since 1986, adding that he chained them to prevent them from escaping.

He said: “Some of the victims were said to have spent five years in the detention camp. They are between ages 19 and 50.

“Some of them were brought by their families to seek spiritual help from mental illness and other diseases. The Prophet said he has been in the healing ministry since 1986.

“Investigation is ongoing,”Elkana said.

50 years ago: "Christian" fanatic sets fire to Al-Aqsa mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount

And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord:
Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the Lord.
And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God...
...Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. Zechariah 6:12-15, 8:9

And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. Zechariah 12:3

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. Revelation 11:1-2

On August 21, 1969, Denis Michael Rohan set fire to the pulpit of Al-aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Mr. Rohan, a 28-year-old Australian who had been working on a kibbutz for several months in order to learn Hebrew, said that he considered himself "the Lord's emissary," acting on God's instructions and enabling the Jews to rebuild the Temple in fulfillment of Bible prophecy in preparation for the return to Earth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mr. Rohan was a subscriber to The Plain Truth, the magazine published by the pseudo-Christian Worldwide Church of God, and claimed to have been led to his act by WCG President Herbert W. Armstrong's "Personal From" in the June 1967 issue. On September 26, 1969, Mr. Armstrong, in a letter to supporters, completely disavowed any connection to Mr. Rohan or responsibility for his crime. I have no doubt that Mr. Armstrong's claim was true; I subscribed to The Plain Truth in 1979-1980 (although, unlike Mr. Rohan, I never took any Ambassador College correspondence courses), and I wasn't a member of the WCG, nor did I become one. I was just starting to really read the Bible then, and as I followed Mr. Armstrong's advice to "blow the dust off your Bible," God used His word to reveal and protect me from the deception of the WCG's teachings. The literature of organizations such as the Worldwide Church of God can be very deceptive indeed to those who merely accept what they say without searching the scriptures in the manner of the Bereans in Acts 17:10-11.

On August 23, 1969, Denis Michael Rohan was arrested; he was pronounced insane at his trial, and was committed to a mental institution. On May 14, 1974, Israeli authorities deported him to Australia on compassionate grounds so that he could be treated near his family. Mr. Rohan was transferred to Callan Park Hospital for the Insane in New South Wales, and was still there when he died in 1995 at the age of 53 or 54.

Since the Israeli capture of Old Jerusalem in the Six-Day War in June 1967, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate had been hesitant to conduct activities on the Temple Mount, much less to begin rebuilding the Temple, in part because of uncertainty over the previous Temple's exact location. In the aftermath of Mr. Rohan's act, the Jewish authorities became even more reluctant to provoke a violent reaction from Muslims. Muslim leaders, on the other hand, used Mr. Rohan's crime as justification for their continued pursuit of jihad against non-Muslims. On September 21, 1969, the Islamic Summit Conference opened in Rabat, Morocco, hosting 27 delegations. Four days later, the charter establishing the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation was signed at the conference. The Jerusalem Muslim Council called for a protest strike in Israeli-occupied areas and all of the Arab world. Egyptian President Gamal Nasser urged force to regain Jerusalem and restore the Al-aqsa Mosque, and King Faisal of Saudi Arabia called for an Islamic jihad to liberate Jerusalem.

None of us know exactly when the prophecies of the rebuilding of the Temple will be fulfilled, but they will be, and according to God's timing, not ours, which may be why Denis Michael Rohan's act of arson had the opposite effect to that which he intended. Had Mr. Rohan succeeded in his intentions, it may have upset the prophetic timetable. Mr. Rohan's actions smack more of fanaticism than faith; Christians and non-Christians should be wary of anyone claiming to have a unique calling to fulfill Bible prophecy. To quote (out of context) the eminent Australian philosopher Mark "Jacko" Jackson, "Well, prove it! And until they do...I'm gonna wait! Oi!"

Cult expert claims that Church of Scientology is headed for extinction

The following article isn't new, but is still relevant. As reported by Geoff McMaster in the University of Alberta publication Folio, January 11, 2018 (bold, links in original):

Stephen Kent knew he’d become a threat when the Church of Scientology sent no fewer than 16 letters to University of Alberta administrators demanding he stop disparaging the church.

“They wrote letter after letter to different levels of administration—from the president on down—to curtail my activities, to silence me, to get me somehow sanctioned,” said the sociologist and cult expert.

It’s not surprising when you consider Kent has been tracking the tactics of the church since the early 1980s. As a post-doctoral fellow at McMaster University, he began collecting stories of confinement, sexual assault and coercion not widely known at the time.

Since then he’s amassed one of the world’s biggest collections of testimonials and documents on Scientology, and last year co-edited a book with former student Susan Raine, now a professor at MacEwan University, called Scientology in Popular Culture.

Kent has also become a top go-to expert for media commentary. Just last month he was quoted in the Irish Times when the newspaper discovered the church had sent thousands of pamphlets to Irish schools under the guise of a human rights organization—just one recent attempt in a concerted campaign to infiltrate Irish society and promote the doctrine of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

But in Kent’s view, the strategy may be just a desperate ploy to stay alive. There has been significant opposition to Scientology in Ireland, he said. The last census revealed its membership at just 87, reflecting a more global public relations crisis that has been plaguing the church for years.

"Historically, most new religions die, and it's fairly clear now that Scientology is on a downward path,” said Kent.

The seeds of Scientology

The Church of Scientology was created by Hubbard in 1954, developed from ideas he presented a few years earlier in Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. A form of self-help psychology, the book was a populist challenge to questionable psychiatric practices of the time, such as lobotomies and electroshock therapy.

Although the principles of Hubbard’s therapeutic process have never been accepted by science, said Kent, they initially held considerable appeal as “the poor person's psychoanalysis.”

Hubbard claimed people could free themselves of the trauma and neurosis associated with painful events of the past—what he calls engrams—by answering a series of questions in “auditing” sessions, the content tested by a lie detector, or e-meter. After enough of these sessions, so the theory goes, the debilitating engrams are erased, and the person reaches a state of being “clear,” capable of fulfilling their full potential.

To avoid charges of practising medicine without a licence, Hubbard rebranded his pseudo-therapy as a religion—calling it Scientology—and proved adept at exploiting celebrity culture to promote it.

“Movie stars in Hollywood had significant status, and Hubbard realized these people influenced popular consumer trends,” said Kent. “He figured out early on that getting media endorsements from key celebrities would be beneficial for his organization."

By the ’60s and ’70s, Scientology’s membership exploded with the countercultural movement, emphasizing self-knowledge, spiritual fulfilment, a distrust of established medical science and aspirations towards world peace.

Celebrity backlash, secrets revealed

"Scientology had its heyday in the late ’70s and early ’80s,” said Kent, “but then the controversy started," as stories started to leak about abuse within the movement and the exorbitant donations required of its members to reach higher levels of spiritual purity.

Much of Scientology’s recent decline, however, can be attributed to a number of high-profile celebrity defections over the past decade, including by Canadian director Paul Haggis, singer Lisa Marie Presley and actors Leah Remini and Jason Beghe.

Remini especially has been a tenacious and vocal critic. First recruited at the age of nine, she left the church in 2013 and has since published a revealing memoir and hosted a documentary series called Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, exposing many of the organizations failings.

But the main cause of Scientology’s downfall, said Kent, is the growing influence of the Internet. "Critics started posting material—including some of the church's own confidential documents—and former members started telling their stories.”

Some countries, such as Germany and France, have taken a firm stand against Scientology. The German government views it as an abusive sect masquerading as a religion, and France has classified it as a dangerous cult.

"With so much criticism of Scientology and so many of its secret documents available either in whole or in part, the impetus for continued membership is greatly diminished," said Kent.

The curious irony in all of this, he added, is that the trends Hubbard exploited so successfully when he created Scientology in the 1950s—emerging communications technology and the power of popular culture, especially celebrity recruitment—are the very forces conspiring against it now.

"Celebrities helped boost Scientology’s image in its early days, and now they're helping to diminish its appeal internationally.”

Mired in 1950s beliefs

But beyond its image problem—documented in the 2015 HBO documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief—the most destructive seeds of Scientology’s demise were sown in its inception, said Kent. Based as it is on “fixed revelation,” or the unalterable word of L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology is unable to change with the times and is therefore doomed.

One case in point is the inescapable homophobia that lies at the heart of the church, said Kent. Hubbard classified homosexuality as a sexual perversion, writing in Dianetics that “the sexual pervert is actually quite ill physically…. He is very far from culpable for his condition, but he is also far from normal and extremely dangerous to society.”

Since then, Scientology has tried to “backpedal and respin its position on homosexuality,” said Kent, adding that nonetheless, “Hubbard's statements on it are fairly clear.

"Any group that has a fixed revelation has great difficulty adjusting to change,” Kent explained. “What you see with the books is greatly upgraded glamorization of the covers and the marketing. But the content is still rooted in Hubbard in the ‘50s.”

His doctrine is so fixed, in fact, that the Church of Scientology began transcribing his texts onto stainless steel plates in the 1980s, placing them in titanium capsules in underground vaults. Located in a remote desert location, the vaults are accessible only through a secured tunnel.

“Compare that with the Mormons, for example, who have a doctrine of ongoing revelation," said Kent. In 1890, for example, Latter-Day Saints president Wilford Woodruff received a revelation to ban polygamy, resulting in a policy change that partly made possible Utah’s acceptance as a state in 1896. And in the 1970s, the Mormons abandoned their position that black people are branded with the mark of Cain.

“It’s been able to adjust to the times," said Kent.

The Church of Scientology still has significant wealth, including lavish properties around the world, "but from what I can see, nobody is in them,” said Kent. “And there are some that have closed down because they just don't have the staff."

In the end, the U of A never did cave to legal pressure from the church, said Kent.

“In all instances, university officials responded professionally and appropriately, and in no way interfered with my activities,” he said.

The Church of Scientology's offices in Edmonton have moved several times over the years, and according to their website, are now way out in the west end in Mayfield Common, far from their traditional downtown locations. Oddly, a Google search under "Scientology Edmonton" shows photos of the now-vacated building on 97th Street.

See my previous post:

Former high-ranking Scientologist claims that organized Scientology is dead (September 7, 2010).

40 years ago: Indian guru receives prison sentence in Switzerland for ordering followers to commit crimes against opponents

As reported by United Press International, May 23, 1979:

Lausanne, Switzerland--Self-styled Indian guru Swami Okmarananda [reported in some newspapers as Ommarananda--blogger] was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment Tuesday for ordering members of his bizarre Divine Light Centre to kill and intimidate opponents of his sect.

Okmarananda, 49, whose sect practised sexual and black-magic rites, promptly appealed the verdict by the Swiss Federal Criminal Court.

He was arrested in 1976 after Divine Light members blew up the house of Zurich state police chief Jakob Stucki.

Stucki and his family escaped unhurt.

Sentenced along with Okmarananda was his right-hand man Joseph Meichtry, a Swiss, who was sentenced to seven years.

A German woman, Verena Plein, received a four-year sentence and was ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment.

A 24-year-old Australian nurse, Katherine Bingham, was sentenced to 27 months.

Verena Plein told the court during the two-week trial that she had been forced to serve as a human altar. She was raped and a chicken was slaughtered over her body.

Katherine Bingham told the court that Okmarananda had sect members inject poison into chocolates and tomatoes and try to give them to the families of authorities opposing the Divine Light Centre, which had its headquarters in Wintethur, north of Zurich.

Two youths, Johannes Schaeben and Theo Diem, received suspended terms of one year and six months respectively.

Miss Bingham's sentence was also suspended. She will be expelled immediately from Switzerland because the court also handed down a sentence of three years expulsion from the country.

According to the Wikibin entry on Swami Okmarananda:

The evidence against the Swami himself is disputed, however, and in a later series of articles published in the Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger an investigative journalist presented certain materials which supposedly had been suppressed at the time of the trial, such as involvement of Belgian and Zurich police. One of the Zurich police officers - who led the investigation and the one who is accused of signing a letter ordering the suppression of material - was later accused of corruption.

Swami Okmarananda died on January 4, 2000, six days after his 70th birthday.

U.S. political cult leader Lyndon LaRouche dies at 96

I missed this when it occurred a month ago: Lyndon LaRouche, economic theorist, conspiracy theorist, perennial U.S. presidential candidate, and cult leader, died on February 12, 2019 at the age of 96, as reported in a laudatory obituary published in his Executive Intelligence Review.

Mr. LaRouche's cult--the International Caucus of Labor Committees--revolved around himself rather than around fixed dogma, which enabled him, over a period of 40 years, to retain much of his following while migrating from Marxism to a position on the political spectrum that could be described, in the words of a former professor of mine, as "slightly to the right of Nero."

Mr. LaRouche achieved some success at infiltrating the Democratic Party in the 1980s, but his tentacles reached beyond the United States. This blogger has seen LaRouche cultists at the Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto, while the Schiller Institute, which was founded by his second wife Helga Zepp-LaRouche, had, and perhaps still has, a base in Sherwood Park, Alberta. In the mid-1980s, an obscure critical article about Mr. LaRouche by Alberta cultwatcher Chris Milner in Alberta Report magazine prompted a handwritten rebuttal to Mr. Milner from a well-known American admirer of Mr. LaRouche.

For more on Lyndon LaRouche, see the following articles:

Lyndon LaRouche, Cult Figure Who Ran for President 8 Times, Dies at 96 by Richard Severo, The New York Times, February 13, 2019

Lyndon LaRouche Jr., conspiracy theorist and presidential candidate, dies at 96 by Timothy R. Smith, The Washington Post, February 13, 2019

Ideological Odyssey: From Old Left to Far Right by John Mintz, The Washington Post, January 14, 1985

Political Theater of the Absurd by Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed, February 19, 2019

20 years ago: Israel arrests and deports Concerned Christians as possible security threat

On January 3, 1999, Israeli authorities arrested members of the American group Concerned Christians, and had them deported. The Israelis were themselves concerned that the American organization, 60-80 of whom had disappeared from their homes and jobs in Colorado in October 1998, were planning to blow up the Al-Aqsa mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount in order to pave the way for the rebuilding of the Temple in fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

There are those, such as Israeli archaeologist Asher Kaufman, who believe that the location of the Temple wasn't exactly where it's commonly believed to have been, and that it could be rebuilt without having to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque. Indeed, while the Bible does prophesy that the Temple will be rebuilt, I'm not aware of any prophecies that existing structures will necessarily have to be destroyed in order for this to take place.

Just because the Bible prophesies certain events doesn't mean that professing Christians should take it upon themselves to initiate the fulfillment of those prophecies. It took this blogger only a few seconds of glancing at the home page of Concerned Christians to conclude that this organization is, to borrow a phrase out of context from an old friend, "cult city," and that its leader, Kim Miller, is a false prophet. Whenever someone claims to have direct revelation from God, claiming the title "Prophet of the Last days," with a unique ability to unseal Bible prophecy, beware, and avoid him and his organization. When I think of someone who claimed to receive such direct revelation, particularly when it came to unsealing last-days prophecies, I think of the late David Koresh, who perished with the rest of the Branch Davidians on April 19, 1993, at the end of their standoff against U.S. government agents at the organization's compound in Waco, Texas.

40 years ago: The raid on Ambassador College

On January 3, 1979, California state officials raided Ambassador College in Pasadena, California, and put the pseudo-Christian organization known as the Worldwide Church of God into receivership, much to the displeasure of the church's founder and leader, Herbert W. Armstrong. This blogger isn't aware of exactly what words were exchanged, but I think it can be assumed that Mr. Armstrong didn't offer his usual salutation of "Well, greetings, friends!"

The raid took place just six weeks after the Jonestown, Guyana mass suicide/murder, and alternative religious movements, popularly known as "cults,", were no longer viewed as harmless, and were attracting closer scrutiny, especially in California. Several weeks after Jonestown, the Los Angeles Times published a series of front page articles on the drug rehabilitation organization Synanon, and the California government raid on the WCG's main college campus took place a few weeks after this.

14 years after these events, a U.S. government raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas turned violent, initially resulting in the deaths of four U.S. government agents, and ultimately resulting in the deaths of everyone in the compound. This blogger predicts that it's only a matter of time before government forces enact violent raids on true Christian churches and organizations. Such occurrences are likely to occur in Trudeaupia Canada before they occur in the U.S.A., so Americans would do well to pay attention to what's going on to the north of them.

For more information, see my posts:

30 years ago: Synanon founder Charles Dederich pleads no contest in murder plot (July 15, 2010)

25 years ago: Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, goes to the "wonderful World Tomorrow" (January 15, 2011)

10 years ago: Garner Ted Armstrong goes to the "wonderful World Tomorrow" (September 16, 2013)

60 years ago: The violent death of U.S. cult leader Krishna Venta

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Matthew 24:24 (also Mark 13:22)

Cults, and violent events involving cults, have been around for a while, long before the Jonestown mass suicide/murder in November 1978 and the Heaven's Gate mass suicide in 1997. This blogger had never heard of this one until a few days ago: on December 10, 1958, cult leader Krishna Venta and seven of his followers were killed, and two girls, aged 8 and 9, and a 59-year-old woman were seriously burned, in a suicide bombing in Chatsworth, California performed by Peter Duma Kamenoff and Ralph Muller, two disgruntled former members of the cult, who had accused Mr. Venta of mishandling cult funds and being intimate with their wives. Messrs. Kamenoff and Muller were also killed in the blast.

Mr. Venta, born Francis Penkovic, decided to start his own religion in the late 1940s. Proclaiming himself to be Christ, and to have reportedly claimed to have led a convoy of rocket ships to Earth from the extinct planet Neophrates, he founded the WKFL (Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith and Love) Fountain of the World movement in Simi Valley, California in 1948, and legally changed his name to Krishna Venta in 1951. The cult required new members to donate all worldly assets to the organization; members were required to wear robes and go barefoot, with men being required to grow beards and wear their hair long. The cult performed various relief works, including fighting fires and helping the needy. A second WKFL Fountain of the World branch opened near Homer, Alaska shortly before Mr. Venta's death.

With the object of the cult's worship dead, membership in WKFL Fountain of the World rapidly declined, and the movement had faded away by the mid-1970s, although a couple of female followers later claimed to channel messages from Krishna Venta. Cults never seem to completely disappear, however; Earth's Order of Melchizedek claims to be carrying on the legacy of WKFL Fountain of the World. The WKFL Fountain of the World Official Website, maintained by bombing survivor Jon Layne Fisher, apparently no longer exists.

For further reading, see:

My Search for Krishna Venta by Shawn Sutherland

Califia's Children: Krishna Venta and the WKFL Fountain of the World (December 18, 2014) by Michael Marinacci

40 years ago: A testimonial dinner that never took place

A testimonial fund-raising dinner in honour of former San Francisco Housing Authority chairman and Peoples Temple founder and leader Rev. Jim Jones was scheduled to be held in San Francisco. However, the gala, endorsed by 75 prominent leaders in support of this prominent Communist liberal social reformer, was cancelled two weeks before the scheduled date because of the guest of honour's permanent inability to appear at the event.

100 years ago: The death of Mormon Church President Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr.

But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Matthew 22:31-32

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; Hebrews 9:27

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water...
...For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. I Peter 3:18-20, 4:6

On November 19, 1918, Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr., President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1901, died of pneumonia resulting from pleurisy, six days after his 80th birthday. Mr. Smith, a nephew of Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith, had five wives and fathered 45 children, although he officially opposed polygamy because he believed it was more important for Utah to achieve statehood within the U.S.A.

On October 3, 1918, six weeks before his death, Mr. Smith, the Latter-day Saints' "Prophet, Seer and Revelator" received the "Vision of the Redemption of the Dead," which he submitted to the counselors of the First Presidency, the Council of the Twelve, and the Patriarch on October 31, and it was unanimously accepted by them. The revelation is now part of the Mormon scripture Doctrine and Covenants as section 138.

Some excerpts:

27 But his ministry among those who were dead was limited to the brief time intervening between the crucifixion and his resurrection;

28 And I wondered at the words of Peter—wherein he said that the Son of God preached unto the spirits in prison, who sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah—and how it was possible for him to preach to those spirits and perform the necessary labor among them in so short a time.

29 And as I wondered, my eyes were opened, and my understanding quickened, and I perceived that the Lord went not in person among the wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them;

30 But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.

31 And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel.

32 Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets.

33 These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands,

34 And all other principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to know in order to qualify themselves that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

35 And so it was made known among the dead, both small and great, the unrighteous as well as the faithful, that redemption had been wrought through the sacrifice of the Son of God upon the cross.

36 Thus was it made known that our Redeemer spent his time during his sojourn in the world of spirits, instructing and preparing the faithful spirits of the prophets who had testified of him in the flesh;

37 That they might carry the message of redemption unto all the dead, unto whom he could not go personally, because of their rebellion and transgression, that they through the ministration of his servants might also hear his words...

...50 For the dead had looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage.

51 These the Lord taught, and gave them power to come forth, after his resurrection from the dead, to enter into his Father’s kingdom, there to be crowned with immortality and eternal life,

52 And continue thenceforth their labor as had been promised by the Lord, and be partakers of all blessings which were held in reserve for them that love him...

...57 I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead.

58 The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God,

59 And after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean, shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation.

60 Thus was the vision of the redemption of the dead revealed to me, and I bear record, and I know that this record is true, through the blessing of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, even so. Amen.

Although the passages cited my Mr. Smith in I Peter don't tell us the exact words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ to the spirits in prison, a reasonable inference is that He proclaimed that He had fulfilled the prophecies and completed His work of salvation. There's nothing in these passages to indicate that He was offering the possibility of salvation after death. Indeed, the vision received by Joseph Fielding Smith contradicts the statement of the Lord in Matthew 22:31-32 and Hebrews 9:27. The God of the Bible is the God of the living, but Mormonism is obsessed with the dead.

The perceptive reader will notice in paragraphs 58-59 of the vision clear proclamations that salvation is by works and not by the grace of God. Mormonism then and now believes that the blood of Jesus Christ is not sufficient to pay for all sins, but there are sins for which the sinner must shed his own blood, contrary to the biblical teaching that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin (I John 1:7). The Mormon "gospel" is not the true gospel of Jesus Christ at all, but a false gospel, which, according to Galatians 1:6-7, is not a gospel at all.

Since the Vision of the Redemption of the Dead received by Mormon "Prophet, Seer and Revelator" Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr. flatly contradicts the clear statements of the Bible, I conclude that Mr. Smith's vision didn't come from God; it's a false revelation, and Mr. Smith was a false prophet.

Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr. was succeeded as Latter-day Saints President by Heber J. Grant. Mr. Smith's son Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr. served as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1970-1972.

See also my post Researcher claims that Mormons are still baptizing Holocaust victims and other dead Jews (December 29, 2017).

"Christian Efraimites" visit Israel

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. Galatians 5:1-4

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath...
...If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—
“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”
(referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?
These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. Colossians 2:13-16, 20-23 (ESV)

The Hebrew Roots Movement seems to be deceiving more people as time goes by, and the "Christian Efraimites" are an example of a Hebrew Roots sect. As reported by Eliana Rudee of Breaking Israel News, October 3, 2018 (links in original):

Sitting beneath the shade of a Jerusalem Sukkah, Pastor Pete Rambo spoke of the prophetic mission of Christians all around the world who are “awakening” from their traditional religious perspectives and embracing the roots of the Christian faith in the Hebrew Bible.

Rambo’s group of 55 internationals, which calls itself B’nei Efraim (children of Efraim, or Efraimites), visited Israel during Sukkot, a Jewish festival in which Jews and non-Jews alike would, in Temple Times, bring offerings to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Ranging from ages 13-79, the group hailed from the US, Australia, South Africa, Germany and the Netherlands – visiting Israel from September 16-October 2 to celebrate Sukkot, while participating in acts of civil service – picking up city trash as a service to their “Jewish brothers” and “to make the holidays even holier.”

Back in their respective countries, each share a love for Israel, are Shabbat and festival observant and “eat clean” similar to the strict Kashrut standards by which Orthodox Jews hold. But they did not grow up observing these traditions – many began as traditional Christians only to stumble on a Bible passage that sparked their interest in returning to the roots of the Christian tradition – the Hebrew Bible.

Now, “very few of us would describe ourselves as Christians, but rather I identify as a lover of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who displays this love through following God and his commandments and desiring restoration,” posed Rambo.

Dorothe Waidelich, an Efraimite from Germany, recalled stumbling on a scripture expressing that “one day for God is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like one day” and connecting this to other scriptures that said “after the 6000thyear, God will reign in his kingdom for the 7000thyear.”

“I connected this idea to the Jewish calendar and days of creation where God told the Israelites to work for six days and rest on the seventh,” she told Breaking Israel News.

After reading this, other scriptures began to make sense as Waidelich came to understand that Shabbat must be remembered and kept holy according to Exodus 20:8.

Likewise, she said, “I realized that the feasts are still God’s feasts and should be celebrated by all of humanity. I realized that Yehuda are Jews, and Christians are a part of the people of Israel who will come together as brothers,” declared Waidelich, who began to attend “Hebrew roots” conferences, eventually meeting Rambo.

Waidelich additionally stressed the importance of supporting Jews and Israel as a German and she has become an ambassador in conversation with colleagues “to show them a different picture of Israel than what is shown in the media.”

Similarly, Ingrid Marais of South Africa began to question why Christians changed Shabbat from Saturday to Sunday and why the festivals as described in the Bible are no longer adhered to.

“God said this is my house, my rules and the Torah is for all of Israel – we see a lot of what is happening as prophecy coming to fruition and are repenting for those who reject the ways of the Torah,” she said, adding that Efraimites reject replacement theology, the idea that God’s covenant with the Jewish people has been replaced with Christians.

“God’s promise for restoration does not mean replacing anyone – as the house of Israel, we come alongside the Jewish people,” Marais maintained.

Efraimite identity is rooted in the prophecies of 1 Kings, concerning ten lost tribes who will forget their original language, culture, history and religion, as well as Ezekiel 37, concerning the ingathering of the exiles of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel:

“And you, O mortal, take a stick and write on it, “Of Yehuda and the Israelites associated with him”; and take another stick and write on it, “Of Yosef—the stick of Efraim—and all the House of Yisrael associated with him.” Bring them close to each other, so that they become one stick, joined together in your hand.” (Ezekiel 16-17)

“Thus said Hashem: I am going to take the stick of Yosef—which is in the hand of Efraim—and of the tribes of Yisrael associated with him, and I will place the stick of Yehuda upon it and make them into one stick; they shall be joined in My hand.” (Ezekiel 19)

“We were dispersed and forgot Torah and Shabbat,” said Rambo, “so we believe that we are Israel, a lost tribe that, during the final redemption, will return to the Promised Land to reunite under one leader as prophesied in Ezekiel. We all feel the Geula (redemption) coming,” he said.

Together, Rambo’s groups come to Israel for the feasts “to bless Israel and be blessed in return,” according to Genesis 12:3:

“I will bless those who bless you And curse him that curses you; And all the families of the earth Shall bless themselves by you.”

But not everyone agrees with this reciprocal blessing.

As Marais also took on Hebrew traditions, she found that “in South Africa, a very Christian country, it was hard for our families to accept our new practices. They believe we are rejecting our Christian faith,” she said.

“Taking on the traditions has come at a heavy cost.”

In the absence of support of some of their Christian family and friends back home, each maintained that they have found great support among Jews and Israelis. Throughout the visit, the group stayed in a Yemenite Jewish moshav (settlement) Givat Ye’arim for the third time since Rambo began bringing groups – aided by facilitator Tzemach, a Givat Ye’arim resident.

On the moshav, they celebrate Shabbat together, learn Israeli folk dancing, sit together in the Sukkah and dance with the Torah for the holiday of Simchat Torah, celebrating the finishing and new beginning of the cycle of Torah readings.

However according to Rambo, this trip’s importance is even greater than a way to celebrate together and build bridges – it’s prophecy. “Prophecy tells us that in the last days, there will be a time when nations will come up for Sukkot.”

“All who survive of all those nations that came up against Yerushalayim shall make a pilgrimage year by year to bow low to the King lord of Hosts and to observe the festival of Sukkot.” (Zechariah 14:16)

Rambo imagines a day when “millions will come, every moshav hosting them like we have been hosted.”

According to Rambo, we are not far off from that reality – he maintained that there are Efraimites everywhere, some of whom, because they are not Jewish and cannot become citizens of Israel, have even moved to Aqaba, Jordan to live inexpensively and be closer to the land for the festivals.

“Around the world there are thousands of us, maybe millions. It’s a growing movement,” he said, encouraging more Jewish people to “understand that we come with no dangerous hidden agenda and to build bridges with us as our hosts of Givat Ye’arim did.”

“Times are changing and we are all a part of it,” he exclaimed.

I have to agree with the South Africans who believe the "Christian Efraimites" are rejecting the Christian faith. They're rejecting the true liberty that Jesus Christ has provided for us and have put themselves under the bondage of the law. When it comes to the Sabbath and holy days, those were given by God for physical Israel; Gentiles were never required to observe them, and Gentiles within the church aren't required to observe them.

The "Christian Efraimites" aren't Jewish, but the more they attempt to identify with Jewish practices, the less able they are to regard themselves as Christians. They claim to be building bridges between Jews and Gentiles, but the only true bridge between Jews and Gentiles is the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross (read Galatians 2).

For more on the Hebrew Roots Movement, I suggest the following articles by T.A. McMahon and G. Richard Fisher at The Berean Call:

Hebrew Roots and the Leaven of Works Salvation - Part One (February 1, 2017)

Hebrew Roots and the Leaven of Works Salvation - Part Two (March 1, 2017)

Messrs. McMahon and Fisher also did the following radio broadcasts:

Uprooting the Hebrew Roots Movement with Dick Fisher (Part One) (May 18, 2018)

Uprooting the Hebrew Roots Movement with Dick Fisher (Part Two) (May 25, 2018)

90 years ago: A Christian Science leader's prophecy is proven false

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. Genesis 3:4

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: Hebrews 9:27

On October 12, 1928, Augusta Stetson, a disciple and co-worker of Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy, died of heart trouble in Rochester, New York at the age of 86, with a physician in attendance. Mrs. Stetson had proclaimed that she would never die; she was mistaken.